Boxing Day at Cowra

It was a beautiful day to be outside, play with the hose, and try to make a positive difference.

From Xmas2008

This ladybug and I had the same idea.

From Xmas2008

Jo organised for the crew to gather for a few quiet ones at The Valley on Boxing Day afternoon.

From Xmas2008

Jedda perches on Pia's lap.

From Xmas2008

Can you guess how this trick is done?

Xmas in Canberra

Jen and I had a full-size tree at house this Xmas.

From Xmas2008

Patch was at sea at the Hodgson's gathering on Thursday.

From Xmas2008

The enormous beach ball was worth the exhausting inflation procedure. Can you spot the Waboba?

From Xmas2008

Teamwork and understanding are essential.

From Xmas2008

Of course, even with the heat, these kitties weren't interested in a swim.

From Xmas2008

Casuarina Sands '08

You'd appreciate a beer or two and a paddle too if you'd had to inflate this boat without a pump. Tough, but we made it!

From Swim08

Casuarina Sands was deep and cool last Sunday. Here, I flee from pirates intent on capsizing my vessel.

From Swim08

Now, Roberts prepares to be boarded!

From Swim08

After no small struggle, we all fit on the boat!

From Swim08

All aboard!

CB goes "Boom" en route to Murramurrang N.P.

A few of us made a brisk journey down the Kings Hwy to Batemans Bay and joked that Ash might have made better time had he slip-streamed behind a cyclist. Then we hoped that it was just a flat tyre that held him up. In fact, Ash was testing was the endurance of a 20-something-year-old motorcycle in mountainous terrain with no engine oil. Yes, he hitch-hiked the last 20 km down to the bay.

From ExplodedCB

Ash resorted to hiring a ute to transport his busted motorcycle.

From ExplodedCB

Back up in the mountains, we loaded up the POS.

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At Emily Miller beach, I hurled a spear.

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Queue sad music for Ash!

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Captains Flat and Wyanbene Road

Ash, Phil, Jen and I stopped off at the Captains Flat hotel on Friday afternoon as we made our way South-East from Canberra.

From ExplodedCB

The GS500 made good time over the dirt section of Captains Flat Rd to its intersection with Krawarree Rd.

From ExplodedCB

At the Wyanbene campground, we strung up our hootchies in a variety of configurations. I favour a peaked roof; my construction is shown below.

From ExplodedCB

Phil's accommodation was based on a similar design.

From ExplodedCB

Thankfully, the timber was drier this weekend than last; we could make a blaze without fire-starters. Jenny and I, beers in hand, prepare to cook sausages and eggs on the campfire.

From ExplodedCB

Wild Ride - Part II

The rain ceased and the wind eased by morning. On Saturday, we were greeted by beautiful rolling hills. Though, at the time, we still had pretty much no idea of where we had ended up!

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

Unperturbed, we rolled our hootchies up, strapped our gear back down and set off for Braidwood.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

Optimistically, we elected to ride in shorts for the first section. Our first task was to get directions.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

A rustic, black-bearded farmer told us to back-track and make our way to Numeralla. I later found that we had travelled further South than I had realised. (Numeralla is only 20k's ENE of Cooma). With only 100k's of fuel left in the tank, I conked out 20k's from Braidwood. Thankfully, Glynn returned with his tank full. Then, we simply proceeded to grasp a wheel each and pour straight from his bike! We were back on the road again and en route to Emily Miller beach.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

The weather cleared (as I predicted). We took our spears out and I managed to give a luderick a fright. The body-surfing was good. We battled gale-force winds on our return to Canberra on Saturday evening, utterly exhausted as our adventure came to a close.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

Wild Ride - Part I

The rain whittled our band down to the most rugged characters. We departed from Scrivener Street at approximately 5.30pm on Friday afternoon.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

I poured the water from my boots at Captain's Flat and then took the wrong road out of town. The sloppy clay was a poor excuse for a road but we battled on. Hope was still shining in Glynn's eyes as he posed in front of the Tallaganda State Forest. (At the time, I erroneously thought that it was the Deua National Park).

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

On a good day, texting and driving is a poor option. Watching a video on your camera while riding in slop is even worse. I lifted the CBR250R from my hardy companion and displayed its fresh coating of mud.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

This video may give you an idea of how slippery the road is! Could you keep this up for hours on end?

The light ran out and, compelled by imminent hypothermia-induced collapse, we made our camp on the side of a hill in an isolated sheep paddock. Glynn had a blaze going shortly so we dined on snags and a few beers while the wind picked up and the rain returned.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

Like a genuine Out-Door Idiot, I rigged up a hootchie that withstood all that the elements hurled at it. Glynn erected his hootchie in a surprisingly compact and sturdy manner.

From Motorcycle trip Dec 2008

And so, we conclude the first chapter of our adventure into New South Wales' sparsely-populated South-East.

Wedding at Repentance Creek

Jenny and I flew to Brisbane en route to her Auntie's wedding in Norther NSW. Our contingent stopped in at Coolangatta for lunch and I took a dip. The water was cool but certainly not cold like on the South Coast. Development associated with Surfer's Paradise is visible in the background.

From ValBarry

The heat and humidity in Repentance Creek, NSW, were remarkable. I'm pictured with Jenny and some of her family who travelled to the wedding.

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Jen is amongst the women who tossed petals for her Auntie and her husband.

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The humidity had to give. Jen and I pitched our tent in a ditch that filled with water. I wallowed in a puddle on Sunday morning. Good trip, though.

From ValBarry

Movember climax

Steve was my Mo-Bro and we celebrated moustaches at the Canberra gala evening held last night at O'Malley's Irish Pub. (Homo-Bro not shown).

From Hitlerian

Mo-Sistas rolled up and joined in the festivities. I love the mexican look!

From Hitlerian

Dumas Street: Warmed Against the Odds

Adam and Jess hosted their housewarming on Saturday, the coldest day since September 4 this year. It was raining and the wind was gusting at up to 70km/h. We had a fun time, though, and trust that Dumas Street is thoroughly warmed now.

From 96Dumas

Half-litre Kaiserdom's were hitting the spot, especially since Steve, Jen and I rode push-bikes out the Rimsy's house.

From 96Dumas

The Kaiserdom fits snugly into this custom beer-holder.

From 96Dumas

Notice that the roof tilts slightly away from the house?

From 96Dumas

When Rimsy get's these glowing eyes, it means that he going to burn something!

From 96Dumas

See why Tracey is so worried!

Happy 25th birthday, Lenski

We celebrated Elene's 25th birthday with her at the Shaque D'Amour.

From Elene25

Appropriately, Steve was on the MB's.

From Elene25

Trace ran the Goon-of-Fortune.

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Here, I steal Ash's move and lunge into the background of this otherwise-fine photograph.

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Wrong way 'round

Ash and I took our moto's through farmland north of Canberra on Saturday afternoon, over great stretches of gravel.  Our route is shown below.  The most significant gravel section is between Cavan and the Murrumbidge River crossing.

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Interestingly, farmers frequently deter drivers from crossing their land by posting "private property - keep out" and "no through road" signs.  However their gates are wide open because they recognise that an easement on their property is active.  We used easements to cross farmland to Cavan en route to Wee Jasper.  We made it through despite signage giving contradictory advice.  From Cavan, we utilized a more conventional route to return to Canberra.

1980 Honda CB250

Ash has aqcuired a motorcycle, affectionately dubbed "Number 5" because of its startling reseblence to the famous robot from the 1986 sci-fi film.

Here, we strike the pose of an economical Thai family.